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#1. Brian's Song - 1971 Every man who sees this movie ends up weeping. It’s an

unstoppable force. If your man ever played a sport - whether in

high school, college or professionally then this movie is going to

really crank up the waterworks.

It was originally a TV movie way back in 1971, but it was so

powerful that is has been restored in every format from VHS to

BluRay. This movie is all the more powerful because it is a true

story about two great football players from the sixties, Brian

Piccolo and Gale Sayers. At a time when racial tensions were

running high in America, two men of different races played for the

Chicago Bears football team and fought for the same position.

Rather than become enemies they became great friends.

Because this was not made for theaters the movie is only

seventy-three minutes long, but that’s more than enough to bring

every man to tears. It’s the perfect buddy film and the agony is

nearly unstoppable. These men go through everything together.

They train together, play together and recover from injuries

together. They are brothers. And then one of those brothers gets

cancer. This was one of the first movies to deal with such a

poignant and terrifying issue. When men review this movie they

say things like “it was an honor to cry at such a fine film.”

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You don’t often hear people talk about recent movies that way.

This movie tugs on your heartstrings and every man who sees it

falls in love. The acting is superb. James Caan and Billy Dee

Williams. These are two actors that every man loves. They were

just starting out and this is the movie that launched two superb

careers.

Get ready for your man to start the waterworks when Billy Dee

Williams has to go in front of the team and inform them that

James Caan’s character has cancer. That’s the moment that

breaks most men down.

This movie is so powerful because it combines a host of

emotional and passionate issues for me. It starts off by dealing

with sports. Every man can connect with this feeling of being on

the field. Of competing with another man for the same position.

Of the struggle to become a champion. There is a reason that

Hollywood is constantly making football movies. Men connect

with them.

Beyond mere football, this is a movie about friendship.

Watching this movie every single man starts to think about his

best friend. When was the last time they talked? What would he

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do if his best friend got sick? What would his best friend do if HE

got sick? Would they take care of each other’s families? What’s it

like to watch your best friend wither away and suffer?

And of course this movie deals with illness, death and grief.

You think of professional athletes as the healthiest people on the

planet. If a professional football player can get cancer, then

anyone can. That’s a scary thought. This movie makes you start

to think about your own mortality. Will you peak early and fade

away? Why do good people have to suffer? Is there a way to

escape your own mortality?

All of these intense emotional issues come together to create

what is quite possibly the greatest football movie of all time. If

you say the title of this movie, nearly every many recognizes it

even if he hasn’t seen it. This is one of those great movies for

men and if you suggest it, he will definitely watch it with you. Just

make sure you bring the tissues.

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#2. Big Fish - 2003

This is one of the greatest tales about the love between a father

and his son. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. I

remember watching this movie with my father and it nearly ripped

me apart.

Where is the line between lying to your son and trying to keep

him entertained? Is it all right to tell a tall tale? Where is the line

between fantasy and reality?

This movie fills you with these types of questions and we

discover that each man must hold the answer within himself.

Every man watching this movie starts to think about his

relationship with his father. As a man gets older this movie makes

him think about his own children.

Raising children in a house filled with love is harder and harder

these days. Many families are racked with divorce and fighting.

There are so many absentee fathers. This movie is about a father

who sticks around and does his best. And yet his son finds his

father wanting. He doesn’t see the love his father pours on him.

Instead of thinks of his father as a liar and he turns against him.

Only on his deathbed does the father see his son one final time.

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Can you imagine the heartbreak? Doing everything you can to

be a great father and it’s still not enough. That’s every man’s

deepest fear. To work as hard as he can and then have his

children turn against him. It happens so often and we all think

about it. This movie is about more than just mortality. It is about

legacy. We have children so that our spirit, hope and energy can

go on. The last thing we want is for those children to reject us.

The actual story of this movie is a son coming to see his father

one last time on his deathbed. He wants to assemble the pieces

of his father’s life. To finally separate the fact from the fiction.

Who was his father as a man? At the same time he tries to

honestly assess his father’s failings. When a man is lying on his

deathbed his entire life is laid bare. It’s time to assess everything

he has accomplished in life and see if he has done enough. The

living is over and the measuring is starting.

That is why every many finds this movie so heart wrenching and

terrifying. This is a great movie to watch to get your man to open

up about his relationship with his father. Even if they haven’t

spoken in years, expect him to finally pick up the phone to call

dad. He will start to realize that you don’t have as much time as

you think. Any day you might get that call that dad is in the

hospital, or even worse that he’s already gone. Time is not infinite

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and if you don’t pay attention it can slip through your fingers.

Nobody wishes for less time on their deathbed.

This movie will inspire your man to want to be a better father as

well. When a man watches his movie he starts of relating to the

son, but by the end of the movie he relates to the father. That is

the power of this piece of cinema mastery. Very few movies

about fathers and sons are as good as this one. All of the

emotion is couched behind fantasy and tall tales so it’s a little

easier for a man to take. The emotional build is slow but when it

hits, it his hard. This movie makes me cry every single time I see

it.

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#3. Saving Private

Ryan - 1998

This starts off as the story of a mother. A mother who sends all

five of her sons off to war to fight for her country. Four of them

die on a single day. How much should one woman have to give

to her country? But that is just the beginning. This becomes a

story about that final, fifth son and the power of camaraderie.

The military decides that this poor mother has given enough.

They need to find her final son and bring him home. He doesn’t

need to fight anymore. His family has given this country enough

blood.

Every man loves this movie because the cinematography is

excellent. The battles scenes are some of the best every filmed.

The intensity. The realism. Your teeth will be rattling during this

movie. At first this seems like it’s just another war movie made for

the guys. That is why it’s so easy to get your man to agree to

watch this movie with you. Most guys forget how heart

wrenching this movie becomes in the third act.

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The acting is superb. The story is flawless. Even before it

brings tears to a man’s eyes, this is a great movie. Watch a horde

of the greatest actors in American cinema act their way across

picturesque Europe.

Watch the hell that is war as a group of US soldiers go deep

behind enemy lines to find the final brother. Their mission is to

bring him home and stop his mother’s suffering.

This movie looks at the deep philosophical questions of war.

Life is precious. War is hell. When are honor and duty to country

the most important forces that can drive us? What would you do

when you find out that your entire family has been wiped out?

Would you go home to comfort your mother or would you fight

with your comrades and get a little revenge?

The first half of this movie is led by Tom Hanks. He drives this

movie with the force of his personality in easily his greatest

performance. He leads a troop of phenomenal actors in the

search for Matt Damon, another great actor. Together they finally

come to the key question of the entire movie.

Should many die to help one?

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That question will rock your man to his core. Watching these

men fight and suffer and die in a foreign land will make your heart

melt. This connects with every man’s core desire to be a protector

for his family and his country.

If your man can somehow watch all of the characters he has

fallen in love with all die without crying, don’t give up hope.

There is one more scene and it’s a real tearjerker. Matt Damon

returns as an old man to the grave of the man who saved him.

The man who gave up everything just so that his mother didn’t

have to lose her fifth and final son.

It’s a poignant moment brought to a crescendo with a

fluttering American flag and one of the greatest musical scores

ever written. How can you ever thank a man who died for you? A

man who didn’t even know you existed until the day he died for

you? This is the ultimate male crying movie about war.

If your man likes war movies or ever spent time in the military

then this movie will bring forth the floodgates. Except him to

weep in your arms and open up his emotions like never before.

He won’t be able to stop until long after the credits have finished.

This is a movie that makes man cry.

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#4. Field of Dreams

- 1989

Most people think of this as a movie about a man and his

dream to play baseball. But it is so much more. This movie is

from the era when Kevin Costner was still a great actor. Long

before he ruined his career with movies like Waterworld and The

Postman. Back when he had the ability to carry an entire movie

on his back.

This is the story of a man who loses his father too soon. They

are in conflict and the father dies before they can resolve their

issues. This is a deep-rooted fear in every man’s psyche. Will his

father die before they can come to terms? If your man’s father is

already gone, then expect this movie to shatter him into tiny

pieces.

The man wants a way to bring back his father and his heroes.

Throughout the movie everyone doubts his dream. They call him

stupid and crazy. He is a man struggling in a world where nobody

has faith in him. The majority of this movie is watching this man

who seems like a crazy person. He is a farmer and eventually

destroys his crops to build a baseball field.

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This is one of those movies that most men don’t want to like.

Most men have been so turned off by his later bad movies that

we forget Kevin Costner’s greatness. It’s one of those modern

classics that people talk about so much that it makes you not

want to see it on principle. If everyone thinks that it is such a

great movie then I don’t want to see it. I don’t like movies

surrounded by hype. It makes it harder to have your own opinion.

You aren’t allowed to hate movies that everyone else already

loves.

But that’s the thing. The movie really is that good. If you can

get the movie playing, your man will not be able to turn it off. This

movie was designed for the sole purpose of making men cry. And

it’s very good at it. No man can turn off this movie and no man

can watch it with dry eyes. There are a few slow moments but this

movie never stops building the emotional tension.

This is not a movie about baseball-playing ghosts. That’s all

most of us remember about this movie.

This is a movie about fathers and sons. This is a movie about

living in the heartland of America. This is a movie about passing

on the teachings from your father to your own sons. Passing that

generational torch.

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Most movies about fathers and sons are terrible. They rarely

work in cinema.

But this time the movie is near perfection. It’s a movie about

the greatest scandal in American sports history. Something that

somehow became a footnote but should be remembered for how

powerful it was at the time. Imagine of someone was caught

cheating now in the World Series or the Super Bowl or the World

Cup? We forget that it’s happened before.

Those disgraced players who got caught up in something much

bigger than themselves might just be seeking a chance at

redemption. One final chance to play the sport they loved

without the world judging them. They lost something pure and

they suffered. Every man wants a chance at redemption.

After all at the core of everything, baseball is a game that is

pure. Every man played it as a child and every man can remember

that feeling of purity. Expect the waterworks when Kevin Costner

gets to enjoy one final game of catch with this father. That one

simple act makes every grown man cry. Who wouldn’t like to play

catch with their father one last time?

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#5. Rudy - 1993

This is the other great football movie. Instead of a story about

friendship and death, this is a story about fighting for what you

want. Rudy is the true story of a man with a single dream in his

life. He wanted to play football for Notre Dame. He was willing

to do whatever it took to make his dreams come true.

His grades weren’t good enough to get into this dream school,

so he went to the college across the street and worked as hard as

possible so that one day he could transfer. He joined all the

football support programs and even when other students pushed

him away he didn’t give up. After two long years he finally

transferred to his dream school and they still wouldn’t give him a

chance. He had so many opportunities to give up. But even that

isn’t enough. The coaches won’t even let him on the team. He’s

too small. He’s not good enough.

This is the story of the size of the fight in the dog. Even great

sportsmen can’t help but root for the underdog in this emotional

tale. Watch Rudy continue to struggle and show what it means to

never give up. To never lay down. He fights his way onto the

team in the only way he knows how.

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Every morning he gets up at the crack of dawn to train outside

the head coaches window. Every day the coach looks outside and

sees this kid training alone. He discounted this kid and said he

wasn’t good enough. But he had too much heart to give up. So

every day he trains alone and the coach can’t look outside without

seeing him. That’s a level of dedication that few men can match

and none can watch without feeling that first emotional twinge.

Watching a man fight against the system to try and achieve his

dream. Watching him struggle. This is something that all men

can relate to. It’s that struggle that makes the victory worth it.

Without struggle the victory holds little meaning.

Expect your man to start crying during the final football game

when all the students start chanting Rudy’s name. The coach

finally relents and Rudy gets to step onto the field. It’s only for a

few moments, but it’s a thing of beauty. He fought his entire life

for these moments and they are glorious. You can’t help but

cheer on the little guy as he lines up to finally play football for his

dream team. He feels invincible.

Just like in real life he plays defense and manages to tackle the

other team’s quarterback. He plays for a few moments and in that

time he manages to accomplish something great. The crowd

goes wild and actually carries him off the field on their shoulders.

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It’s a beautiful moment that is all the more poignant because it’s a

true story.

Every man has a sports career where maybe he could have

made it a little farther if he played as hard as Rudy. Did he give

up too soon? Did he want it enough? This is a great moment for

you to ask him about his high school and college sports

experiences. He will be so emotionally raw that for once those

memories won’t be locked up tight. He will tell you about his

most intense sports experiences and you will get a rare chance to

see this side of his personality.

Rudy is a wonderful and heartwarming tale. For once, you will

be crying because something great happened rather than with a

sense of regret or sadness. Celebrate that.

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#6. Awakenings -

1990

Robin Williams and Robert De Niro are two of the greatest

actors of this generation of cinema. They come together to share

a true tale. Many of our greatest tearjerkers are true stories.

There is something about knowing that this really happened that

can push a man over the edge.

This is the true story of a bunch of patients locked in comas.

They caught a disease that we now have the cure for. When was

the last time you heard people talking about encephalitis? These

people were locked in comas for decades. One lonely doctor is

assigned to care for a ward filled with these frozen patients.

These patients that time forget.

He is in a room filled with people who are prisoners in their

own bodies. He discovers a new treatment that offers hope.

What if he can wake them up? What if he can end their suffering?

He might lead the greatest prison break in history!

That’s the beginning of what makes this movie great. This

amazing doctor gets permission to try a new experimental

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therapy, starting with just one patient. He can only free one

patient at first. Who will he choose? The treatment has some risk

because it is untested but the possible reward is nearly limitless.

Ending decades of suffering.

This becomes the story of a young teenager who wakes up to

find himself in the body of an older man. He has to face a new

outlook on life. The entire world has changed and left him

behind. This movie is about one of our worst fears - to be

trapped in your body without the ability to move and function.

But that is just the beginning of this emotionally charged tale.

Watching how people act before and after they wake up just

pulls at your heartstrings. You see them trapped but you also see

them escape. As Robin Williams eventually wakes all of the

patients, you get to see how each of them reacts. They lost so

much time, but now they have a second chance. They have been

saved from a disease considered incurable.

It’s terrifying and it is majestic.

The message of this movie is that you should enjoy and savor

every single moment. You never know what might be coming

around the corner. These people were given a second chance, but

most of us never get that opportunity. Live each moment like it’s

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your first time. Truly savor every experience like the people in this

film. Living life with that level of passion. That is a worthy goal.

This movie does move at a slow pace but keep your man

focused. Once he starts to become invested in this movie the

tears are inevitable. I’m sure that you will be crying right along

side him at this intense, emotionally charged movie. Even though

the movie takes place nearly one hundred years ago, the message

is very powerful. There are things in this world that we simply

cannot control. There are still incurable diseases and people

locked in comas. It’s a terrifying thought but you never know

when something bad might come your way.

There are multiple moments in this movie where you can both

expect to cry. If you are waiting for your man to make a big

decision this is the movie that will push him over the edge.

Whether it’s talking about getting a dog, buying a house or

getting married - this movie reminds us all just how precious life

is. Putting of a decision only works if you have more time. And

sometimes you just don’t.

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#7. Marley and Me -

2008

Dog is man’s best friend.

You probably already know how this movie ends. Everyone

always talks about it. Bringing a dog into your family can open so

many wonderful doors and experiences. For many of us, the first

time we ever dealt with death and grief was over the loss of a

dog. I still remember losing my best friend when I was only ten

years old. It was brutal and I wept in school. Very rarely do men

feel comfortable weeping in public, but the loss of a dog will do it.

This is the story of a wonderful and crazy dog that brings a

family together through wacky adventures. This is a fun and

playful film that turns earnest as we learn that we must face our

own mortality through the eyes of a friend. Any movie where the

dog dies is going to make you cry. It’s inevitable.

The movie starts off with a young couple that just got married.

The wife wants a child but the husband decides to get a dog first.

Like many couples, they decide to practice being parents with a

dog. He wants to see if they are really ready. Of course the dog is

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wild and very difficult to train. Always getting into crazy antics

and causing trouble. Over time the dog becomes the backbone

of the family. Holding them together through good times and

bad.

Dogs are wonderful but we all know they do not live as long as

humans. They are a constant reminder of our own mortality.

Dogs age and get the same kinds of diseases that humans do.

They lose their hearing. They become incontinent. Watching your

dog get old is a like a mirror into the future. We have to face on

of our greatest fears.

When we are young we imagine that we will live forever. Other

people get old; we will stay young and vibrant forever. But when

your dog is sick, reality shatters that fantasy. If your dog cannot

escape the ravages of time, what hope do you have? One day it

will be you choking down pills to stay alive and dragging yourself

back to the doctor to fight against the Grim Reaper.

But there is that moment. That moment when you know it’s

over. When the vet tells you that there is no cure for what ails

your dog. Unlike humans, most dogs do not die of natural causes.

There comes that moment where the doctor tells you that all

hope is lost. You have to hold your wonderful dog in your arms,

while you look each other in the eyes. And the doctor inserts the

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needle and ends your dog’s life. Your dog’s suffering is over but

yours is just beginning.

Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows what this pain is like.

I’m sure you have a tear in your eye right now. Death is terrifying

and watching your best friend cross over is emotional to say the

least.

This is a movie that starts with a beautiful journey and ends in a

chasm of emotional pain. Expect your man to start bawling the

moment the doctor puts Marley to sleep. He will be ready to

open up and tell you every wonderful story about his own dog.

We all have great memories of joy and sadness from our own

dogs. Let him cry with you and tell you the wonderful story of his

own best friend. Our dogs are not truly gone as long as we

remember them and share their stories with the other people in

our lives that we love.

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#8. Bridge to

Terabithia - 2007

I read this book as a child and it is the only book that made me

cry for days. It was assigned reading over the summer. It’s one of

the greatest stories about friendship ever told. I can’t tell you

how close I felt to the little boy in this tale. This is the story of a

little boy who is socially awkward and alone. He is suffering and

doesn’t fit in anywhere. Then he meets a wonderful girl who

changes his entire world. She is the new girl in town and helps

him to discover how wonderful life can actually be.

This is a movie for children but I can promise you that it has a

way of bringing grown men to their knees. Every man knows

what it feels like to be the outcast. We all do. Every one of us has

had those moments where we felt terrifyingly alone in this

universe. So when a young girl enters the boy’s life, we see a

chance at hope. This is the one thing that we all wished for in

those moments of agonizing solitude. Someone to listen to us, to

understand us and to lead us out of the desert.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that this is a children’s

movie. This is simply a movie starring children. Most of the

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themes are so complex and thought provoking that children won’t

fully grasp them. The main story is simply captivating as these

two children create their own beautiful universe. Like Big Fish, this

movie has amazing cinematography and wonderful creatures.

That part of the movie children can truly enjoy.

As with all great tearjerkers, we know that something terrible is

going to happen. Otherwise the movie wouldn’t be on this list. I

don’t want to ruin the surprise for you because the majority of

this movie is simply majestic. This movie is about friendship, hope

and loss. Every one of us can think of that best friend from

childhood that we miss. The friend who disappeared over time.

As we went off to high school or college and moved away…that

friendship faded away.

This movie will bring that memory into stark reality. It’s never

to late to live life to the fullest. You should never give up hope

and some lessons must be learned, even though they are painful.

Life is a journey full of ups and downs. We must face those

challenges and learn to appreciate each of those beautiful

moments. Each moment we have on this earth is a gift too

precious to be squandered.

Do not be surprised if he turns to you at the end of this movie

weeping and says that he wants to have children. This movie is

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that powerful. Just writing this now there are a few tears in my

eyes. We all have friends that we have lost along the way and just

remembering them can be tough. This is am emotional journey,

but it is a good one.

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#9. Stand By Me -

1986

Stephen King’s greatest movies are not always the ones we

expect. This is his first great movie and it’s not a tale about

monsters, demons or killer clowns. It’s the story of four boys who

go on a journey to see a dead body.

It sounds so simple but the journey is so much more. It’s really

a story about the bonds of friendship and what happen to them

over time. Can four boys stay close as they grow into manhood?

What happens when time and circumstance try to pull them

apart? Can the stories or our childhood endure the tests of

adulthood?

The four young actors in this film all grew up to have

phenomenal acting careers. But like their characters in this movie

they all fell down different paths. Some became movie starts.

Some became TV stars. And some left this life all too soon. This

is the movie that launched some of the greats careers of the

1990s.

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This is a movie that was built and designed for boys. You might

not relate to the story but your man certainly will. He will have a

friend that is exactly like each character in this movie. And he can

see a little bit of himself in each of them too. Watching these

boys on their epic journey will connect with every man on a core

level. Each of their adventures will bring you closer to them.

You will laugh. You will cry. You might even get a little queasy.

This movie makes every man want to go back and be twelve

again. That amazing time at the end of innocence. Childhood is

ending and the teenage years are about to begin. It is a

confusing time for many boys. But this movie focuses on the

greatest parts.

Your man will start crying with River Phoenix in the milk money

scene. Keep your eyes on your man because he will need your

support to get through this scene. You might not remember this

young actor whose star shone so brightly and faded away far too

soon. His brother has since become famous, but before Joaquin

there was River. And this is easily his greatest performance.

Some boys talk tough and some boys really are tough. Until

we reach the end of the movie we don’t find the true answers.

Who has what it takes to complete the journey? What are the

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true bonds of friendship? Who is going to stay by your side when

the going gets tough?

Great movies force us to ask ourselves powerful and poignant

questions. This is a great movie and will warm your heart. This is

a chance to remind your man of his childhood. He will feel

comfortable opening up to you with tales of childhood that he

has never revealed before. He has a heart filled with stories of

friendship that he probably hasn’t thought of in decades.

Sometimes we forget our most emotional moments as move into

adulthood. This movie will reopen those memories.

This is a story about how one single event can change the

entire course of your life. This is a journey well worth taking and it

is guaranteed to pull the tears from your man’s eyes. He won’t be

able to resist seeing himself in the eyes of these young actors.

This movie was filmed decades ago and takes place more than

fifty years ago, yet the tale stays strong. This is a movie that will

remain great for a very long time. If you want to watch your man

cry and enjoy a brilliant movie about childhood, then this is the

perfect film.

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#10. Pay it Forward

- 2000

I almost didn’t put this movie on the list. The ending is so sad

that just writing about it starts to tear me apart. But the lesson

from this movie. The core concept is so powerful that this is a

movie worth watching.

What if you could do one thing that changed the world?

This movie is about a boy who does exactly that. He comes up

with a simple idea that if people really lived by would change our

planet for the better. It’s so powerful that if it really spread like

wildfire we could live on a much more beautiful planet. Instead of

waiting for people to do nice things for you, simply do three

favors for strangers. Do your favors first.

This is the core concept of pay it forward and it’s so beautiful.

There are few movies that come up with a truly original idea

and this is one of them. There are a few scenes in this movie that

are simple brutal in their intensity. Kevin Spacey is unbelievable.

When he tells the story of his own father pouring gasoline on him

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and lighting him on fire, you will be horrified. You and your man

will both cry.

Whether he had a great father or a terrible one, your man can

relate to this moment. This great fear that the one person, who is

supposed to protect you, becomes the one who tries to destroy

you. As men we all fear turning into this kind of father. Every

man looks in the mirror and some point and wonders if he will

become a monster. It’s a deep fear and it’s one that we rarely

express. This is a tough movie about fathers and sons, but the

powerful message makes it worth watching.

If you think the tears are over after that scene, I have some new

for you. The intense emotional journey is just beginning. Every

powerful movement requires one thing in order to catch like fire.

The sacrifice of the innocent. The only way to really start a

movement is with a death. That is how you get your story on the

news and across the Internet.

This movie shows that even young children can have evil within

their hearts. That even when you do the best you can to make the

world a better place, sometimes there is someone with so much

black in their soul that they cannot be stopped. You will be

reminded of every celebrity murdered by a deranged stalker. Why

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do those lives that burn the brightest have to be cut down so

quickly?

That very sacrifice is often what makes the message endure.

This is a beautiful and moving movie with a bittersweet ending.

It takes the sting of death away when it actually means

something. When your death makes your dream of creating a

better world come true. That’s why the ending of this movie is so

beautiful.

Expect to cry at least twice during this movie. You will feel the

pain of loss and the joy of accomplishment. Changing the world

is possible. The message of hope is mixed in with the sadness of

death. Like real life nothing is every all good or all bad. This is a

powerful movie that will have you and your man bawling in each

other’s arms. This is a movie that will have both if you crying

together. You will feel closer than you ever have before. This is a

beautiful movie and it’s well worth watching even if you aren’t

trying to make your man cry. The message is that beautiful.

32

Honorable Mentions

These are the greatest movies for making a man cry. But here

are some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make it into our

top ten.

Good Will Hunting

The Iron Giant

Braveheart

The Green Mile

Gladiator

Toy Story 3

Glory

Crazy Heart